OAKLAND — Ironman finisher Mary Ellen Loranger says her "epic adventure" has inspired her to be a better athlete ... and get a tattoo.

"Usually I walk away from these things asking if I want to continue," said Loranger, 49, who finished in 13:41 at the world championships in Hawaii earlier this month. "There I came away wanting more, to be a better athlete, a better person."

Loranger participated in the world finals as one of two ambassadors from Women for Tri, a volunteer group that works to increase women's presence in the sport. An estimated 300,000 athletes attempted to qualify for the event last year at one of its 260 events in 44 countries.

Of them, 1,762 men and 698 women participated in the final race.

"I feel like I have learned and have grown," Loranger said. "It's had a profound and lasting impact."

Oakland's Mary Ellen Loranger with her finisher medal from the Iron Man world championship in Kailua-Kona earlier this month.(Photo: Photo courtesy of Wayne Loranger)

Participants have access to the race route for practice: 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run. Loranger spent some of each day on various parts of the course, assimilating its character and challenges.

"The course is not difficult," Loranger said. "What makes it the hardest in the world are the elements of the Kona challenge. The heat is oppressive, like a sauna. On the bike course, the headwinds are challenging. And there is no shade; you are out in the open."

As a Woman for Tri ambassador, Loranger had to fit her practices around receptions, photo shoots and community service projects.

"I'm in a pond scooping out algae in the hot baking sun, and my head is somewhere else," Loranger said. "But still, I was there because of Women for Tri, and that had to be added on top of everything."

Her Woman for Tri teammates formed an immediate bond, but Loranger found the other participants less social.

"These are the fittest people on the planet," Loranger said. "I was in awe of them. These people are very serious; you can feel it. Usually when you're out on a course you can strike up a conversation: 'Hi, where are you from?' With these people you could hear a pin drop. Nobody talks."

Loranger, center, participated in Ironman as an ambassador for Women for Tri, a volunteer group dedicate to involving more women with triathlete events.(Photo: Photo courtesty of Wayne Loranger)

The swim

The participants are given 17 hours to complete the race to qualify as finishers, and it begins with the ocean swim. The contestants are released in stages.

"The scariest part was treading water 100 to 200 yards offshore waiting for the starting cannon to boom," Loranger said. "It felt claustrophobic, like 600 women in a washing machine. Somebody kicks you in the face. You have to find an open area to swim."

Loranger said the challenge is managing the currents and swells.

"I mean, it's beautiful — the Pacific, dolphins and fish — but it's still the ocean."

In fact, the race's eventual women's winner, Daniela Ryf, was stung by a jellyfish during the swim, causing her to lose more than nine minutes before recovering to post an 8:26:16 finish time. The men's winner, Patrick Lange, broke the event's eight-hour barrier for the first time, finishing with a time of 7:52:39.

The bike

Loranger went from the ocean to a changing tent, where she shed her "swim skin," donned biking shoes and helmet, and found her bike on a rack while volunteers slathered on skin screen.

"It's like the road to nowhere. It's mind-numbing," Loranger recalled. "It's oppressively hot, really hot. And on the way back we experienced cross-winds that can knock you off your bike."

Water and nutrition are key during the daylong race. Loranger's sports drink combined electrolytes and carbohydrates. She also used a 400-calorie "liquid shot" in place of gels to slow down absorption and digestion.

"Every 10 miles you need to eat and drink," Loranger said. "In most races you drink to thirst. In this race, if you're thirsty you're in trouble. The nutrition race needs to be thought out and practiced, because you're on the bike for six hours."

The run

After cycling, participants again enter tents to change into running shoes, visor and a fresh coat of sunscreen from the volunteers.

"You're pretty sunburned by now," Loranger remembered. "You sweat it off during the cycling. And by this point you're a little fuzzy."

The running course is the same section of Queen K Highway, and it's like "running on an airport runway," she said.

"We're not allowed to run with music headsets, so it's you and your own head. You're literally putting one foot in front of the other," Loranger said. "But it's crowded with people cheering you on."

At mile 16 of the 26.2 mile run, contestants enter what is called the Energy Lab, a 3-mile-long heat-intensive stretch between research lab buildings that often forces runners to face their physical limit "wall."

"It sucks the energy right out of you," Loranger said. "Lots of runners have a meltdown in this stretch and struggle. You're pouring water on yourself from the volunteer stations."

Then the sun set.

"It's pitch black; you're running in the dark," she said. "It's a very challenging part. They give us glow sticks, but it really doesn't light the way. Someone in front of me was wearing a white shirt, and I focused on that shirt."

Four miles from the finish line, the monsoon rains suddenly poured down.

"Now you're praying you don't turn an ankle," Loranger said. "There's music over loud speakers and volunteers all cheering you on and reaching out to high-five, and all you can think of is: Please stop! Get out of my way!"

The finish line glows in the distance "like a Rockefeller Christmas tree on steroids." Loranger said she slowed down to "take it all in" before crossing the finish line, where her husband had arranged with the Ironman Foundation to present her with her finisher medal.

"To say that was emotional is an understatement," her husband said. "She worked incredibly hard for this event, not only for herself but for all the women and men that she is inspiring to start getting active in effort to attain a healthy lifestyle."

Aftermath

So what was Loranger's first thought after finishing? The buffet tent, a bath, a bed?

No, she returned to the finish line to cheer on the runners behind her.

"This is actually the best part," Loranger recalled. "There was an 86-year-old man from China who crossed the finish line with minutes to spare. There was the runner holding on to a banner, crawling to finish. They're announcing it over the loudspeaker; everyone is cheering them on. You have chills. They've been out there so long."

Loranger said she felt "amazing" at a runners' reception the next day.

"The support I got was epic — people sending me notes, cheering me on," she said. "My job now is not to lose sight of what they did for me."

In keeping with that thought, Loranger said, she is determined to overcome her distaste of tattoos to provide herself with a lasting memento of her achievement.